


In Case of Emergency, Dial Two

by Lilas (pegasus_01)



Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-27
Updated: 2011-11-27
Packaged: 2017-10-26 14:51:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/284541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pegasus_01/pseuds/Lilas
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny and Grace have the talk (but not that talk, another kind of talk).</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Case of Emergency, Dial Two

**Author's Note:**

> I got the idea for this after reading tari-roo's fic [Our Devoured Minds](http://tari-roo.livejournal.com/58507.html) (which is an awesome WIP and people should go read!). I warned her a fic like this one might come out based on the one line in her fic :)

Danny had survived Hawai’i for 180 days before he met Steve, and as of now he’s survived another 120 days since then. He should know; he’s been ticking off the days in his bathroom as if he were in prison, four little black lines crossed out by a fifth one decorating the peeling wall behind his dingy bathroom door. He sighs dramatically as he adds another tick to the second column of little lines, the one marked with the words “POST-STEVE” in all caps above it. It’s both satisfying and terrifying that the column is slowly but surely gaining on his existence pre-Steve.

It also brings home the point that he’s been trying to avoid now for last 100 ticks. In just four months Steve has managed to infiltrate Danny’s life more thoroughly than the cockroach infestation he had in his apartment the month after he’d moved in, and so far Danny’s been less successful than the exterminator had been in killing off the mutant bugs. Danny’s known what he has to do since the day Grace had looked at him pleadingly one early Saturday and asked if they could go hang out with “Uncle Steve” at his house.

So it’s time he and Grace have “the talk.”

Danny groans softly at the thought of what he’s about to do and thunks his head against the off-white wall, closing his eyes and taking a deep, fortifying breath. The worst part is knowing he’s going to have to have this conversation three times all with varying levels of awfulness to them. He might as well start with the least painful conversation and work his way up the ladder. He pushed himself off his crouch into a standing position and makes his way to his living room where Grace is busy coloring on a piece of paper. He can see from where he’s standing that the picture is of him, Grace, and Steve at the beach.

This is going to suck.

“Grace,” he says as he approaches her and there’s nothing in the world that can stop his smile when she looks up at him and grins in return.

“Yah, Dad?”

“We need to have a talk, Monkey.” He can see her eyes widen in fear at his words and he almost starts laughing at the face she’s making; thankfully he manages to hold it in. “Calm down Gracie, you’re not in trouble.”

“Oh,” she says meekly as she puts down the blue colored pencil. “Okay…” Her voice is soft and hesitant; clearly she doesn’t believe him.

“Monkey, remember how in Jersey you and I had a talk when you were four?” She nods slowly. “And I told you that if anything ever happened to you or mommy, and you couldn’t reach me, that you should call Bobby?”

She nods again. “Are we going to have that kind of talk again?”

“Yes,” Danny says, reaching out and taking hold of her hand.

“Okay,” she replies, and she’s so serious when she says it that for a moment Danny can’t remember how old she’s supposed to be.

“Go get me your cell phone, honey,” Danny asks her and watches as she complies without a word. If there’s one thing he’s grateful to Step-Stan, it’s that he got his baby Monkey a cell phone, even if Danny sometimes thinks she’s too young to have one. It makes his plan of action a lot easier to execute.

He takes the proffered phone and immediately goes into the contacts and starts creating groups. He’s not as technologically impaired as he pretends to be; he does that mostly as a show to get a kick out of Steve’s never-ending exasperation. He’d be a pretty lousy detective if he couldn’t get with the times and operate the type of technology Five-0 has available. Within a few seconds he’s done what he wanted to do and gives the phone back to Grace who has been sitting quietly next to him.

“All right, Monkey. Here’s the deal,” he says as she opens up her contact list. “If _anything_ ever happens to you, or if you’re _ever_ in trouble, or if you _think_ you’re in danger, I’m on speed dial 1.”

“You already were, Danno,” she cuts him off, exasperated. As if that hadn’t been the first thing she’d done when Step-Stan had given her the cell phone.

“I know,” he says as he smiles at her and ruffles her hair. “Now, Uncle Steve’s cell phone is speed dial 2, his office is speed dial 3, and his home is speed dial 4.”

“Okay,” she nods as she scrolls through her contacts to double check everything Danny is telling her.

“If, heaven forbid, you can’t reach me, you call him, and you stick to him like glue. You _do not_ let him out of your sight. Got that?” She nods. “He’ll protect you, Monkey, and he’ll find me.”

“Okay…” she replies, voice soft and subdued.

She hates having this conversation with her dad. She knows that his job is dangerous, and she knows that sometimes he’s not going to be there for her, and that thought scares her more than she can say. But she also knows that she has to have this conversation because being prepared is nine-tenth of survival; the remaining one-tenth being all about luck.

“But,” Danny continues and she looks back up at him, expression twisting from serious to confusion. “There is a caveat.”

“What’s a caveat?”

“An exception,” Danny explains.

“An exception for sticking to Steve?” she asks for clarification.

“If you have to get in a car, _do not_ , under _any_ circumstances, get in the car with him,” Danny states unequivocally.

“What?” she squeaks.

“I mean it, Monkey. The man is a menace on the road and I will not have you riding in the car with him. You get someone else to drive you, either Chin or Kono, or any other HPD officer. You _do not_ get in the car with Uncle Steve behind the wheel. Is that clear?” Danny reiterates.

“But Danno,” Grace whines. “I’ve already gone in the car with him! And nothing happened!”

“I don’t care, Monkey. That was before we had this talk. From now on, you will call Steve and stick to him like wet sand on your skin _unless_ there’s a car ride involved. At which point, you will go and stick to someone else for the duration of the ride. Are we clear?”

“Crystal,” Grace mumbles unhappily.

“Good. Now go get dressed. Steve invited us to spend the day at his house, and Kono will be there with her surf board.”

Danny watches silently as Grace’s face splits into a wide smile and she scrambles out of her chair to collect her clothes for the day. He thinks back on the hundreds of little lines on his bathroom wall and pulls out his cell phone for the conversation he has to have with Rachel about his decision. As he dials, he debates whether he even has to have this conversation with Steve, and decides that maybe he doesn’t.

After all, that second column in his bathroom says it all.


End file.
